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Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
Hello All,

I am literally going crazy and cannot make my mind one which one of these to choose. I would like to ask all of you who are using/used Synology or Qnap to assist me here with this decision. What are the +/- of each and which one would you recommend and why?

The reason I cannot make my mind is that they are very similar based on spec and price wise i don't have a problem, I know it would pay off in long run. My main usage will be:

1. to back up my laptops (Windows and Mac)
2. Have a itunes library that i can stream anywhere (mobile, PS3, etc.)
3. Store my photos and being able to share them with anyone over the internet
4. store my videos/movies and being able to share them over the internet
5. store my files and being able to access them anywhere with any device
6. Optional: run a tiny web server

I know both of those devices offer all of them in one form or another and that is why it's hard to decide. Help me out and it's much appreciated.

If you think that any other Model is more suited for my need, please do mention it.
 
Last edited:

lexvo

macrumors 65816
Nov 11, 2009
1,467
551
The Netherlands
For me, Synology and QNAP are the two top brands regarding NAS. I think you can't go wrong with either of them.

I have a QNAP for 2 years now and I'm very happy with it.
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
For me, Synology and QNAP are the two top brands regarding NAS. I think you can't go wrong with either of them.

I have a QNAP for 2 years now and I'm very happy with it.

lexvo,

Thanks for your input, I totally agree with you. The reason why I'm in a dilemma here :D

So 1 point for Qnap so far!
 

TRMC13

macrumors member
Oct 20, 2012
91
0
Synology 1812+ here. Loooooove it. Quiet, stable, a lot of optional software, and fast.
 

537635

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2009
1,096
970
Slovenia, EU
+1 for Synology 1812+.

Works like a charm. For me the greatest advantage od Synology is their hybrid raid. Through the years I've accumulated quite a few external USB drives of different brands and capacity. With SHR it was no problem to take the disks out, put them in the NAS and get the maximum capacity.

Also it is no problem to upgrade the capacity on the fly by replacing disks.
 

harry454

macrumors 6502
Sep 13, 2007
466
1
I have to add to the Synology! Just got a ds413j last week and love it, after researching various time, the Synology appears to have better customer service as well as very reliable with Mac's!
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
Synology 1812+ here. Loooooove it. Quiet, stable, a lot of optional software, and fast.

Thanks TRMC13, I know I said budget is not an issue but that is way too much for me :D

+1 for Synology 1812+.

Works like a charm. For me the greatest advantage od Synology is their hybrid raid. Through the years I've accumulated quite a few external USB drives of different brands and capacity. With SHR it was no problem to take the disks out, put them in the NAS and get the maximum capacity.

Also it is no problem to upgrade the capacity on the fly by replacing disks.

537635, Thank you for your input. Really helps when making big decisions about what to buy.

I have to add to the Synology! Just got a ds413j last week and love it, after researching various time, the Synology appears to have better customer service as well as very reliable with Mac's!

harry454, I also looked into the DS413J but the memory(RAM) and the processor looked a bit slow for me, also in their forum I read many, many issues with the speed of this specific model, that is why i backed away from that model. Thanks!

Looks like this is what we have so far:

Qnap: 1 point
Synology: 3 points
 

Ifti

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2010
3,910
2,407
UK
Another vote for Synology here. Had a 5 bay for a few years and never had any issues whatsoever. Fast and quiet.
Have a few videos on Synology equipment - software and hardware - in my YouTube channel for you to check out if you still need convincing ;)
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
Another vote for Synology here. Had a 5 bay for a few years and never had any issues whatsoever. Fast and quiet.
Have a few videos on Synology equipment - software and hardware - in my YouTube channel for you to check out if you still need convincing ;)

ifti,

thanks for your input and i will definetly check them out.

looks like its time to buy a Synology:

Qnap: 1
Synology: 4
 

Mactabulous

macrumors member
Dec 23, 2011
69
0
Have a QNAP TS-459 Pro a couple of years now. Happy with it, fulfills my needs (TM backup, remote access, streaming to ATV, centralized storage for my household). Dunno about Synology. They are more expensive I've heard. My QNAP has performed flawlessly since day one. You need gigabit ethernet though, else it sucks in terms of transfer, regardless of brand. Running mine with 4 x 2TB disks in RAID5. It has all the options you seek (as far as I can tell). It's a matter of taste really. You'll be quite pleased no matter which one you choose.
 

Vinculum

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2012
5
0
York, Pa.
I've have a Synology DS211 and its been super dependable. I use it to store Bluray images and PC backups, webserver, and surveillance camera recording. I'm a new Mac mini owner and haven't used Time Machine with it yet, but I know it supports it. It will do everything you want to do. I'm sure the QNAP boxes are nice too and you probably can't go wrong with one of those either. I'll be upgrading to a unit with 4 or more bays next and staying in the Synology family. Best of luck with your decision.
 

= bluntman =

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2009
165
0
Toronto, Ontario
I've owned 2 QNAP devices, a TS-409 Pro Turbo II and a TS-439+, and I've had nothing with problems with them. Both would choke on large file transfers and would eventually disappear from the Finder. Admittedly, I am not a techie, so I found the QNAP UI, at times, cryptic.

I purchased a Synolgy DS-412+ recently and I absolutely love it! It is fast, quiet and reliable. I can easily transfer large files to and from the NAS without any problems and it has never needed a reboot or disappeared from the Finder. The UI is also excellent!
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
Have a QNAP TS-459 Pro a couple of years now. Happy with it, fulfills my needs (TM backup, remote access, streaming to ATV, centralized storage for my household). Dunno about Synology. They are more expensive I've heard. My QNAP has performed flawlessly since day one. You need gigabit ethernet though, else it sucks in terms of transfer, regardless of brand. Running mine with 4 x 2TB disks in RAID5. It has all the options you seek (as far as I can tell). It's a matter of taste really. You'll be quite pleased no matter which one you choose.

Mactabulous,

Thanks for your input.

I've have a Synology DS211 and its been super dependable. I use it to store Bluray images and PC backups, webserver, and surveillance camera recording. I'm a new Mac mini owner and haven't used Time Machine with it yet, but I know it supports it. It will do everything you want to do. I'm sure the QNAP boxes are nice too and you probably can't go wrong with one of those either. I'll be upgrading to a unit with 4 or more bays next and staying in the Synology family. Best of luck with your decision.

Vinculum,

Thanks, I just purchased a new DS413J (4-bay) and can't wait to get my hands on it.

I've owned 2 QNAP devices, a TS-409 Pro Turbo II and a TS-439+, and I've had nothing with problems with them. Both would choke on large file transfers and would eventually disappear from the Finder. Admittedly, I am not a techie, so I found the QNAP UI, at times, cryptic.

I purchased a Synolgy DS-412+ recently and I absolutely love it! It is fast, quiet and reliable. I can easily transfer large files to and from the NAS without any problems and it has never needed a reboot or disappeared from the Finder. The UI is also excellent!

Bluntman,

I too heard alot about Synology, not just here in Macrumors, but many other sites. Eventually today decided to go with the DS413J model as it looked to meet my needs. Thanks for your input.
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
UPDATE

Just wanted to put my process here in case some people looking for similar information.

11/05/12 - Bought a Synology DS413J
11/07/12 - Bought 3 1TB WD (Model# WD10EFRX) NAS HDs
11/12/12 - Synology DS423J is scheduled to arrive!
 

537635

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2009
1,096
970
Slovenia, EU
Just a word of advice:

Take some time and really think about how your disk setup will look like (which RAID, volumes, disk groups, maybe iSCSI...). After a RAID array is set, it is almost impossible to change it in place.

After my intial setup I discovered it doesn't really suit my need (a couple of old disks, so I wanted a 2-disk-failure redundance). It took two weeks to migrate all the data and rebuild the array.

My tips:

- NO disk groups
- only ONE volume
(the reasoning is that if you need more space on a particular disk share, having multiple volumes can be problematic)
- SHR-1 (or 2, but that could be an overkill)

- BACKUP! NAS and RAID protect you only against the second most frequent data disaster - disk failure. The first being our own stupidity.
So have a non-persistent-synced backup of important data.
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
Just a word of advice:

Take some time and really think about how your disk setup will look like (which RAID, volumes, disk groups, maybe iSCSI...). After a RAID array is set, it is almost impossible to change it in place.

After my intial setup I discovered it doesn't really suit my need (a couple of old disks, so I wanted a 2-disk-failure redundance). It took two weeks to migrate all the data and rebuild the array.

My tips:

- NO disk groups
- only ONE volume
(the reasoning is that if you need more space on a particular disk share, having multiple volumes can be problematic)
- SHR-1 (or 2, but that could be an overkill)

- BACKUP! NAS and RAID protect you only against the second most frequent data disaster - disk failure. The first being our own stupidity.
So have a non-persistent-synced backup of important data.

Thanks for your input, what I was thinking is to use the default settings (SHR) on Synology as many have reported that it makes the expansion and maximizing the storage capabilities much easier.

How do you do your backup?
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
So, I've been using my Synology DS413J for almost a week now and i cannot express how happy i am with this product. Installation was a breeze, set up was a breeze, although, I am still learning how to make most of it. It is full of features and so many options, I need to work for it for a good month to be able to find my way around menus. Oh and I'm hosting my own site on my Synology, I stopped paying for hosting :D

I'll keep you all updated.
 

lfbarbieri

macrumors newbie
Feb 11, 2013
1
0
Ajamali

This is a great thread, exactly the same situation I am in.

I am just wondering if you had an update on the Synology DS413J now that you have been using it for a few months.
 

537635

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2009
1,096
970
Slovenia, EU
How do you do your backup?

Congrats on your purchase!

I have a rMBP with only 256GB SSD. Therfor, I keep all my photos, music and movies on the NAS. When I'm not at home, I connect via WebDAV and I can normally browse in Finder, as if it was a local disk.

So for backups:

1. I do an rsync of my home folder once a week from rMBP->Synology.
2. As I have all my other data on the NAS, I have it set to backup the most important stuff once a week to a different folder. It might seem illogical to backup to the same device, but this is in case I delete something accidentally.
3. Once a month when I'm at my parents' house, I do an rsync:
rsync home folder -> external USB disk
rsync my NAS data -> external USB disk
4. Once every six months I backup all the most important data on a separate USB hard disk.
 

Moasson

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 29, 2011
63
17
In Yo Face
Ajamali

This is a great thread, exactly the same situation I am in.

I am just wondering if you had an update on the Synology DS413J now that you have been using it for a few months.

Dear lfbarbieri,

I could've not been happier. First of all, Synology's Cloud station as they call it, is an amazing feature. I stopped using the TimeMachine's backup feature because I can sync only the things I want to be backed up with my Synology using this cloud station featue.

I have also downloaded the synology's iphone apps, which are amazing. I use their audio app to listen to my music on my iPhone basically anywhere.

I use the photo app to sync my pictures from my phone to my diskstation and also view the ones i have transferred to my diskstation.

i use their file app to manage my college documents.

I keep it on 24/7 and it's in my bed room, it makes absolutely no noise.

Like i mentioned earlier, I also host my static portfolio webpages, with my domain pointing to my diskstation, It's been more than 3-4 months and I haven't paid a dime for hosting and it works perfectly for my needs.

I also share files with friends and they can download them directly from my diskstation with out any issues whatsoever.

However, I have not figured out how to make my diskstation reachable on my tv. it says that it is DLNA capable but I havent been able to link it to my Samsung tv but what i do is stream it via my MBA.

Synology's DSM version 4.2 is in beta stage and will add new features when it's released and will make my diskstation more functional, can't wait to see what else i can do.

Hope you find this review helpful.

best
 

iamsen47

macrumors regular
Aug 18, 2012
199
12
Kobe, Japan
Finally looking into getting a Raid for backing up our various websites and production files. We currently just backup to a simple Hitachi 4Tb. I went down to the shops to take a look and the Synology ones were really expensive compared to various USB/NAS enclosures or even the WD Duos (non-TB).

Is there a reason why Synology is so popular/recommended?

We're thinking of just getting the WD Studio/Book DUO (the one with FW) because it looks like everything else is a huge hassle. Should we?
 

537635

macrumors 65816
Mar 7, 2009
1,096
970
Slovenia, EU
Is there a reason why Synology is so popular/recommended?

Yes, there is. (or did you think it's like a religion?)

And there is also a reason why it is more expensive than other NAS / storage solutions...


You get an "out of the box" relatively powerful NAS / web server / media server / surveillance station solution with excellent support, compatibility and expandability.
 

iamsen47

macrumors regular
Aug 18, 2012
199
12
Kobe, Japan
Yes, there is. (or did you think it's like a religion?)

And there is also a reason why it is more expensive than other NAS / storage solutions...


You get an "out of the box" relatively powerful NAS / web server / media server / surveillance station solution with excellent support, compatibility and expandability.

Yeah, I'd actually like to know the reason because all the threads in this forum recommending it don't really explain why or how it's better than, for eg, the WD Duos.
 

mutsaers-vr.nl

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2008
347
4
The Netherlands
I am looking for a NAS to back up all my video files but also have fast transfer spreed. I want at least 4 docks so I can have 2 raid 1 configurations. i ant to be able to have access to the data all over the world. So which Synology fullfill this best. Don't want to higher specs than i need.

I read you can you host your website from a NAS so I don't need a website hosting priver anymire. How does this work, have no clue ??? Do I need additional software ? The website is designed with Freeway 5.5 pro.

Just a tip : never buy from Lacie, those f....... throw away my backup disk which I send them together with a failure disk !!!!
 
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